Wang Wenshao (王文韶)

Overview

The translated histories identify Wang Wenshao as an administrator, official, and statesman. This record brings together 18 passages from 4 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Wang Wenshao	王文韶	Wang Wenshao
Courtesy	Kuishi	夔石	Kuishi
Personal name	Wang Wenshao	王文韶	Wang Wenshao
Posthumous	Wenqin	文勤	Wenqin
Alternate	Wenshao	文韶

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:437:s0039, qingshigao:465:s0072, qingshigao:471:s0025
Sex: male
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0047

Roles

Administrator
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Age: Value: 79 · Reckoning: sui · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 其冬 · Western Year: AD 1908
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0092

Age

Age: Value: 79 · Reckoning: sui · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 其冬 · Western Year: AD 1908
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0092

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 三十一年 · Western Year: AD 1905
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0088
Source Date: Text: 三十四年 · Western Year: AD 1908
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0091, qingshigao:437:s0092
Source Date: Text: 二十六年 · Western Year: AD 1900
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0079, qingshigao:437:s0080, qingshigao:437:s0081
Source Date: Text: 二十四年 · Western Year: AD 1898
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0078
Source Date: Text: 光緒元年 · Western Year: AD 1875
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0050
Source Date: Text: 光緒十六年 · Western Year: AD 1890
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:464:s0047
Source Date: Text: 八年 · Western Year: AD 1882
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0056
Source Date: Text: 十五年 · Western Year: AD 1889
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0058
Source Date: Text: 十八年 · Western Year: AD 1892
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:471:s0025, qingshigao:471:s0023
Source Date: Text: 同治十年 · Western Year: AD 1871
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0044
Source Date: Text: 咸豐二年 · Western Year: AD 1852
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:437:s0040
Source Date: Text: 聯軍至 · Western Year: AD 1900
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0072
Source Date: Text: 論曰 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1875 · End: AD 1908
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0239

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Child of Mother of Wang Wenshao (王文韶母)
Kinship Term: mother / 母 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: mother · Object Role: son

Kinship Role: parents · Count: 2
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0057

Career and standing

Label: governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou / 雲貴總督 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 十五年 · Western Year: AD 1889
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0058
Label: acting governor of Hunan / 署湖南巡撫 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治十年 · Western Year: AD 1871
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0044
Label: governor-general of Zhili and Beiyang commissioner / 直隸總督、北洋大臣 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0069, qingshigao:437:s0070

Places and affiliations

Label: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0047
Polity: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:437:s0039
Polity: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0072
Place: Renhe, Zhejiang / 浙江仁和
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0039

Learning and skills

Credential: Presented Scholar / 進士 · Action: earned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 咸豐二年 · Western Year: AD 1852
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0040

Works and attributed material

Work: map of Miao frontier fortifications / 苗疆要塞圖 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0047
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · About: Lüda fortifications gaps
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0072, qingshigao:437:s0073, qingshigao:437:s0074
Kind: speech · Role: addressee · Other Person Id: Zhao Shuqiao (趙舒翹)
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0073

Events and relationships

Kind: travel · Role: escort · Action: accompanied court west from Shanxi into Shaanxi
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0080, qingshigao:437:s0081, qingshigao:437:s0082
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: ordered-to-visit-legations · Other Person Id: Zhao Shuqiao (趙舒翹)
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0072
Kind: political · Role: counselor · Action: warned against provoking foreign powers during Boxer crisis
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0079
Relation: recommender-of · Person Id: Chen Baozhen (陳寶箴)
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0047
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Li Hongzhang (李鴻章)
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0042
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠)
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0042
Relation: recommender-of · Person Id: Sheng Xuanhuai (盛宣懷)
Explicit · qingshigao:471:s0025

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: versed in official routine and the larger picture, but often criticized for cautious self-preservation · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:437:s0090

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 437Volume 437 Biographies 224: Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao, Zhang Zhidong, Qu Hongji · 14 passages

Open chapter

王文韶，字夔石，浙江仁和人。 Wang Wenshao, whose courtesy name was Kuishi, came from Renhe in Zhejiang.

文韶條上援黔、防境機宜，以兵事屬按察使席寶田，督其部將蘇元春、龔繼昌等進剿，斬首逆張秀眉烏鴉坡，黔境平。 Wenshao laid out in detail how to aid Guizhou and guard the frontier, put military affairs in the hands of Surveillance Commissioner Xi Baotian, and directed subordinates such as Su Yuanchun and Gong Jichang in the campaign; the rebel leader Zhang Xiumei was beheaded at Wuyapo, and Guizhou was pacified.

文韶繪苗疆要塞圖，上之朝。 He drew a map of Miao frontier fortifications and submitted it to the court.

寧遠莠民倡亂，耒陽硃鴻英复妄稱明裔構眾，先後檄道員陳寶箴討平之。 Ruffians in Ningyuan rose in revolt, and in Leiyang Zhu Hongying again falsely claimed descent from the Ming and gathered followers; Wenshao successively ordered Circuit Intendant Chen Baozhen to put down both outbreaks.

文韶亦自陳無狀，詔革職留任。 Wenshao likewise confessed his failures; he was ordered stripped of rank but kept at his post.

八年，御史洪良品、鄧承修劾雲南軍需案，文韶坐失察，奪二級。 In the eighth year Censors Hong Liangpin and Deng Chengxiu impeached officials in the Yunnan military supplies scandal; Wenshao was held negligent and stripped of two ranks.

文韶斬獲叛將，三日而定。 Wenshao captured and executed the rebel leaders, and order was restored within three days.

文韶綏靖各路土司，令自為守。 Wenshao pacified the native chieftains along the routes and ordered them to defend their own domains.

鴻章赴日議和，文韶權直隸總督、北洋大臣。 While Li Hongzhang went to Japan to negotiate peace, Wenshao served as acting governor-general of Zhili and Beiyang commissioner.

二十六年，拳匪仇教，文韶力言外釁不可啟，不見納。 In the twenty-sixth year, when the Boxers turned against Christianity, Wenshao strongly warned against provoking foreign powers, but his counsel was ignored.

自聯軍犯京，事急，兩宮召軍機，惟文韶一人入見，諭必侍行。 When the allied armies threatened Beijing and the situation grew desperate, the court summoned the Grand Council but admitted only Wenshao, instructing him that he must accompany the flight.

文韶歷官中外，詳練吏職，究識大體，然更事久，明於趨避，亦往往被口語。 Wenshao served at court and in the provinces, knew official routine thoroughly, and grasped the larger picture; yet long experience had taught him how to advance and withdraw, and he was often criticized for it.

日本增兵遼東，鴻禨以敵情叵測，請敕劉坤一、王文韶簡練勁旅，不可專任淮軍。 When Japan reinforced its troops in Liaodong, Hongji, finding the enemy's intentions unpredictable, urged that Liu Kunyi and Wang Wenshao train crack forces and that the court not rely solely on the Huai army.

榮祿屢參大變，文韶久達世務。 Rong Lu took part repeatedly in great crises; Wenshao had long mastered affairs of state.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 464Volume 464 Biographies 251: Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijingzi, Ren Zhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Ceng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong With: Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, Kang Guangren · 1 passage

Open chapter

湖南巡撫王文韶薦其才，光緒十六年，召入都，除湖北按察使，署布政使。 Hunan governor Wang Wenshao recommended his ability; in Guangxu 16 he was summoned to the capital, appointed judicial commissioner of Hubei, and made acting provincial administration commissioner.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 465Volume 465 Biographies 252: Xu Tong With: Yu Shi, Yu Shi Son: Cheng Yu, Gang Yi, Zhao Shuqiao, Qi Xiu, Ying Nian, Yu Lu With: Ting Yong, Yu Xian With: Li Tingxiao · 2 passages

Open chapter

聯軍至，李秉衡兵敗，太后乃令王文韶與舒翹詣使館通殷勤，為議款計。 When the allied armies arrived and Li Bingheng's force was routed, the Empress Dowager ordered Wang Wenshao and Shuqiao to visit the legations with courtesies to open peace talks.

文韶以老辭，舒翹曰：「臣望淺，不如文韶！」 Wenshao pleaded old age; Shuqiao said: "My standing is too slight—I am no match for Wenshao!"

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 471Volume 471 Biographies 258: Sheng Xuanhuai, Rui Cheng · 1 passage

Open chapter

於是之洞賞其才，與王文韶交薦之，遂擢四品京堂，督辦鐵路總公司。 Zhang Zhidong then admired his ability; he and Wang Wenshao recommended him jointly, and he was raised to fourth-rank capital official and superintendent of the Railway Company.